Moate residents celebrate Project of the Year award win

A hardworking group of residents from Mount Carmel Drive housing estate in Moate are over the moon this week that their three-year long campaign to provide a play area for local children has been recognised with a “Project of the Year” award in the Westmeath Cathaoirleach Awards.

For Mary Greally, Chairperson of the Residents Association, the award is a fitting vindication of all the hard work undertaken by the group over the past three years to raise funds for the provision of a playground and amenity area in the estate for the enjoyment of all members of the local community.

“We are over the moon,” said a delighted Mary this week. “We got a certificate from the council a couple of weeks ago and we were delighted with that and never expected it to be followed up by winning the ‘Project of the Year’ Award.”

Mary says she is particularly delighted with award and feels it is “fitting recognition” for the hard work which has been undertaken by so many of the residents in Mount Carmel Drive since the local Residents Association was resurrected again in 2018, after it had been allowed to lapse for a few years.

Having moved into Mount Carmel Drive over 28 years ago, Moate native Mary Greally recalls that the first Residents Association was set up in the mid-90s with Martin Rattigan as Chairperson. “I was Secretary at the time and among the things we did to improve the estate was install a basketball court and get a footpath across the green, and we also got a ride-on lawnmower."

Mary’s husband, Tommy, has been mowing the grass on the large green area in Mount Carmel Drive for over 23 years, and Mary says it was always the ambition of the Residents Association to get some sort of amenity installed in the green area for local children and for the enjoyment of all the residents.

It took until 2018 before progress was made on this long-cherished ambition, however, when Westmeath Community Development organised a meeting in Moate which was attended by members of the Mount Carmel Drive Residents Association.

“We hadn’t been very active for a few years, but at that meeting Martin Rattigan said he was resigning and would like me to take over as Chairperson, but I said I wouldn’t take on the job unless we could get a playground for the kids,” says Mary Grelly.

A new Residents Association was formed to include Ross Kelly (Vice-Chair); Carmel Kelly and Annie Foxe (Joint Treasurers); Marie Fleming and Catherine Jameson (Joint Secretaries) and Mickey McCallum (PRO) and they began working closely with Westmeath Community Development Support Worker Caroline Lawlor and councillors, Tom Farrell and Vinny McCormack, to make the playground dream a reality.

In the process, the group managed to secure 90% funding for the playground from LEADER, and had to raise the remaining 10% - which amounted to a whopping €10,000 through various fundraising initiatives such as Rock & Roll Bingo; Face Painting; an Indoor Market; a Sports Day; a St. Patrick’s Day Parade for the children in Mount Carmel Drive; Quiz Nights and various other events.

“The whole community has really got behind us,” says Mary Greally “and there is a great sense of everyone being in this together, it has been a great project, and we are hoping to start building the playground/amenity area later this year and have it completed before the end of the year.”

Moate resident and architect John Greene was brought on board to design the playground, and to date, the Residents Association have purchased a shed for their ride-on lawnmower; two benches for the playground, a marquee and a gazebo.

“We want to include everyone in this project, so we are hoping that perhaps the marquee could be used for the celebration of outdoor Mass for the older residents in the estate, who have been unable to attend Mass over the past year due to Covid, and the benches could serve as a resting place for grandparents to watch their grandchildren playing in the new playground…..it is very important to bring the whole community along and to promote a spirit of social inclusion and participation for all,” says Mary Greally.